THE TWO WINGS OF THE CHURCH (PART ii)

Last week I talked about what is happening in the new wing of the church.  Well, what about the original wing?  What are the plans for it?  I am happy to say that ministry in the old wing will soon be every bit as exciting as the ministry in the new.

Recently, a meeting of key ministry leaders was held to make a final decision about the future of the old-wing. (The meeting was conducted after a room-needs survey was completed by virtually every ministry leader in the church).  An exciting plan emerged.  Here are the highlights:


Plans for the first room (the one nearest the mail slots) call for it to be a dedicated prayer room.  The middle wall that once separated Val and Wendy’s offices has already been removed.  The glass in the front will be artistically frosted.  The room will be decorated in a comfortable fashion so that people can stop in at any time to pray—alone, in pairs or in groups.  Our aim is to be a “vibrant church of prayer,” and this room will be a strong declaration of this.

The next, small room will remain as a dedicated meeting place.  It is already serving this purpose very usefully.

Our aim for the larger room next to it (my former office) is to turn it into the cry room.  With a wall-mounted, closed circuit TV in a room comfortably furnished with couches and chairs, it should be an ideal spot for nursing moms to congregate.  They will be able to turn the lights on fully (unlike now because of the reflective glass that gives them privacy), they will be even nearer to a bathroom, and they will never again have to worry about people passing through their private space.  There are other benefits:  the room can be used as a comfortable meeting area for prayer counselling or other counselling sessions.  It can serve as an overflow room for large church events when the sanctuary is not adequate, and it will serve as a waiting room for bridal parties, allowing bride or groom to watch what is happening in the sanctuary as they prepare to enter.   Equipping ourselves with a closed circuit TV also helps fulfill our dream of using technology to maximize our communication, because it will allow us to live-stream our services to the web if we choose to do so.

Finally, the current cry room with adjoining side rooms will become one large conference room where groups of thirty or more can meet.  The full council will certainly meet there, as well as large study groups.  A built-in TV monitor will make it easy to show DVD’s or PowerPoint presentations.  This will be the room the worship team will meet in just before (and sometimes during) services, so that they can easily slip in to their places in front.   Anyone who wishes to do so, will be able to use that side door as an entrance into the sanctuary again without fear of walking in on the nursing mothers.

Any comments or questions?  Let Wendy know by emailing wendy@discoverbethel.com.  Our Admin Team is eager to go and believes the project could be finished as early as May!

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